George W. Bush doesn't have to be concerned with any more elections that carry his name on the ballot. But that doesn't mean he isn't intensely interested in the 2008 presidential race, a contest that is almost certain to be seen as a final referendum on his two terms in the White House.

So Bush, we are told, has taken to assessing the field of Republican candidates. He has been known to tell contemporaries that Sen. John McCain of Arizona, the leading GOP candidate of the moment, might not make it. But instead of going down the list of others, such as former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani or former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, the president reportedly says it might pay to watch a candidate who is receiving essentially zero attention: Mike Huckabee, former governor of Arkansas.